


Happy Anniversary

by okemmelie



Category: The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: F/M, Poor Life Choices, starkid writes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-04
Updated: 2019-09-04
Packaged: 2020-10-09 21:42:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20516885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/okemmelie/pseuds/okemmelie
Summary: Ted hooks up with a stranger. Sam is a shitty husband. Charlotte makes some bad decisions. It's a pretty regular week.





	Happy Anniversary

**Author's Note:**

> some choices were made and this is what ended up being my contribution to this week's theme, "parallels", on the starkid writes discord. anyway, i love charted and hate happiness, so have this i guess

It’s a Thursday morning and Charlotte greets Ted with a smile when she walks into the office.

It’s Thursday evening, but Ted is bored and has decided that he’s allowed to make a bad decision every now and again. The bad decision of tonight being going out despite the fact that he has to work tomorrow. But hey, he’s young, and if he has to make mistakes, it should be now.

There aren’t a lot of bars or clubs in Hatchetfield, but he can’t be bothered to go to Clyvesdale. He doesn’t mind settling. He buys a woman with a wedding ring a few drinks and they kiss, and he feels nothing, so he takes her back to his apartment and they have sex, and he feels nothing. And he decides that that’s fine, because if he can’t have Charlotte, he doesn’t mind settling.

It’s Thursday evening, but it’s a special one because it’s Charlotte and Sam’s wedding anniversary and she’s bought him a brand new watch that she just knows he’ll like. It’s a Thursday night, but it’s a regular one because Sam comes home a little too late and a little too drunk, and sure, he says thank you for the gift but that’s about it. He asks what it’s for and she tells him and he stays quiet for a while.

He hasn’t gotten her anything. It’s fine, she says, but it’s not. At least he kisses her. That’s something special, these days. But he’s drunk and it’s a short, passionless kiss and he forgot their wedding anniversary and she feels nothing. Not from him and not from herself. She decides that it’s fine because she always expects too much, and maybe Sam is just too tired from work. Maybe he just forgot. Maybe it’ll be better next year.

It’s Friday morning and Ted wakes up alone. There’s no sign of the woman ever having been in his apartment and that works for him. He has his morning routine that he’s followed for years: Click snooze on his alarm, decide to get up before his phone goes off again, brush his teeth, hit the shower, make coffee, get dressed, drink his coffee, and then it’s out the door and off to work.

It’s Friday morning and Charlotte wakes up alone. Physically, Sam is right there next to her, but emotionally he’s so distant that it’s almost suffocating. She kisses his cheek and whispers good morning to him. He rolls over and she leaves the bedroom to get ready for work. She drinks some cold coffee left over from yesterday and puts on a jacket before stepping outside.

It’s Friday evening and Charlotte didn’t expect to be showing up on Ted’s doorstep, but Sam called to say he wouldn’t be home before much later and Charlotte didn’t want to be alone with her thoughts. She’s a committed wife and she loves Sam and she knows what will happen if she rings the doorbell. Despite all that, she does it anyway.

It’s Friday evening and Ted isn’t expecting guests, but he opens the door anyway. It’s Charlotte. Charlotte who’s been here exactly twice, but never alone and never like this. He’s offered her a night with him plenty of times before, but she’s always refused. And now she’s here. On his doorstep. Alone. This can’t lead to anything good, he thinks to himself before letting her in.

It’s Saturday morning and Charlotte wakes up on the right side of the wrong bed. She’s naked and she feels cold, but not exposed. And that’s odd. She looks up and meets Ted’s eyes before he leans down to kiss her. Maybe she doesn’t feel so cold anymore.

It’s Saturday morning and Ted wakes up on the wrong side of the right bed. But his bed isn’t empty and he isn’t alone: Charlotte is still here. And that’s odd. She wakes up fifteen minutes later and when their eyes meet, he wants to say something. Anything. He kisses her instead.

It’s another Thursday morning and Charlotte, once again, walks past Ted’s desk without as much as a nod.


End file.
